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The Gardens of Mien Ruys - a book review

I don't know how I missed her, but I was totally unfamiliar with Mien Ruys. A beautiful new book The Gardens of Mien Ruys details her life and work. Born in the Netherlands in 1904, she was the daughter of Bonne Ruys, who founded Moerheim Nursery in 1888. She grew up in a liberal atmosphere and encouraged to learn and study. She found great comfort in the natural world around her and learned all the plants in her father's nursery at a young age. After leaving school at the age of 19, she knew that she wanted to work in the garden center. The Moerheim Nursery, in addition to selling plants, had an on-site design studio where they published a detailed catalog and sold landscape design plans to customers. It was in the design studio where Ruys first began to work and she was soon encouraged to venture beyond her country and study abroad. Her father's connections helped her secure a traineeship with Wallace & Sons Nursery in Tunbridge Wells in England. There, she met Gertr...
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Trip to Memphis - Dixon Gallery Gardens

Michael and I went to Memphis today to visit our friend Joann and to see an Impressionist art exhibit at two museums - the Brooks Museum of Art and the Dixon Gallery. Both were awesome but the Dixon Gallery was my favorite because of the beautiful gardens that surrounded it. Most of the gardens were shaded and the woodland garden was beautifully designed and featured dry shade plants. There were also interesting containers throughout with unusual choices of plants.

Unfortunately, when we returned home, Joann called and said that we completely missed the formal garden! Oh well - another excuse to return to Memphis soon!


Two large containers flanked the entrance to the gardens which held rosemary and dicondra.



I've never seen a smoke tree in a container until today.

A sunny section of the garden featured this beautiful pool. There were beautiful water lilies
growing in it but my photos didn't turn out well.

This container included a rubber plant, ivy, and croton.



Dicondra and an assortment of evergreens.

If memory serves me correctly, the plant tag on this said it was a honeydew plants. I was
unfamiliar with it but I'm guessing it is tropical.



A Kousa dogwood - I've never seen so many berries on one.

The Woodland Garden included hosta, cardinal flower, grasses, epimedium, huechera and hellerbores.


This bed surrounding the statue was lined with maidenhair ferns.

A pathway through the Woodland Garden, which features dry shade plants.





Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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  1. Gardener on Sherlock StreetAugust 27, 2011 at 7:09 PM

    You mean there's more?
    What you saw is beautiful. Thank you for sharing your trip.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Rosedale gardenAugust 27, 2011 at 7:19 PM

    Looks formal to me. Great pics. Mary

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  3. Lisa at GreenbowAugust 28, 2011 at 3:26 AM

    Rosemary has to be brought in here to survive. It looks great in that urn with dicondra. I love the Cardinal plant and have never been able to establish it here. It is so striking where ever it is planted. Thanks for the tour.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Rosedale GardenAugust 28, 2011 at 6:35 AM

    I'll have to find a place for the Kousa dogwood now. Love the berries on it. We need rain here. I had to water the weeds so I could pull them yesterday. Mary

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  5. Monica the Garden FaerieAugust 28, 2011 at 6:49 AM

    Love the use of woodies in containers, and the pond is just gorgeous! Also, that Kousa dogwood is stunning!

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  6. sweetbayAugust 28, 2011 at 9:17 AM

    Those gardens *are* beautiful. I will have to try dicondra in a container. It has such a wonderful draping effect.

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  7. debsgardenAugust 28, 2011 at 8:05 PM

    Beautiful! I really like the rosemary/dicondra combination. And the kousa dogwood! I can't believe I missed this garden those years my son was at college in Memphis. We usually ended up on Beale Street.

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  8. Anne BoykinAugust 29, 2011 at 2:51 AM

    Thanks for sharing this beautiful garden. I hope to see it one day for myself after seeing your pictures.
    I have an unrelated question, do you grow Angel's Trumpet, Datura?
    If so, can you give me some tips on growing it?
    Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Phillip OliverAugust 29, 2011 at 6:12 AM

    Bloominganne, I do grow Angel's Trumpet and they are blooming now. I'll try and do a post on them later in the week.

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  10. Rob (ourfrenchgarden)August 29, 2011 at 1:03 PM

    Looks beautiful. Love the glasshouse and the Thalia dealbata growing in the second pool.

    The light looks bright. I like this time of year, the light starts to be less harsh.

    ReplyDelete
  11. serial tillerAugust 29, 2011 at 6:04 PM

    Love the containers with the weeping dichondra. I say wow to all those Kousa berries too! Thanks for posting...I needed a garden tour.

    ReplyDelete
  12. LesAugust 31, 2011 at 4:10 AM

    That looks like a lovely garden, and I have never seen Dichondra used so well, or growing so well.

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  13. Peggy HillSeptember 4, 2011 at 7:33 AM

    That dogwood is spectacular! Any idea what variety it is?

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  14. CommonWeederApril 10, 2012 at 8:39 AM

    We are so lucky to have public gardens like this all over the country.

    ReplyDelete

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